• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, May 13, 2013

Karen Kaplan, president of Interpublic Group’s Boston-based Hill Holliday has been promoted to CEO, the agency confirmed Monday morning.  

Kaplan succeeds Mike Sheehan, who has been in the role for a decade, having succeeded agency co-founder Jack Connors.  Sheehan will assume the role of chairman of the agency, a post he’s expected to hold for two years before exiting the agency.

Kaplan has been the heir apparent since 2007 when Sheehan promoted her promoted her to president.

 Kaplan has spent her entire professional career at HH. She joined the agency 1982 as a receptionist, billed as “something to do before law school,” according to Kaplan’s bio on the HH website.

But once at the agency, law school plans were put and on hold and she never left.

The agency has annual billings of more than $2 billion. The firm created the well-known “America Runs on Dunkin’” campaign for client Dunkin’ Donuts.  Other clients include Liberty Mutual, John Hancock and Verizon Wireless.